It is #FrancophonieMonth and this is the story of the Franco-Manitobans!
The first French speakers arrived in what is now Manitoba in 1660 when fur traders reached the area.
Settlement of the area by Francophones did not occur until the 1730s though.
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Pierre Gaultier de Varennes was the 1st to establish a presence in southern Manitoba with Fort St. Charles in 1732. From that year until 1741, he established seven forts in Manitoba.
As fur traders arrived, they married Indigenous women, creating the Metis people.
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In 1871, there were 5,500 Francophones in Manitoba, making up half of the population of the province.
Within 10 years, they were a minority as English settlers from Ontario moved in.
In 1890, the provincial government removed the linguistic rights of Francophones.
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That year, English became the sole official language of the province, including in schools.
In 1896, a compromise was reached to allow French instruction at schools.
Then, in 1916, the province banned any language but English for school instruction.
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French instruction was not re-introduced to schools until 1955.
In 1970, French was reestablished as an official language for education.
In 2016, the Francophone Community Enhancement and Support Act was passed, signaling Francophone linguistic acceptance in Manitoba.
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On this day in 1985, hockey great Eddie Shore died of liver cancer.
He was such a legend that he was name-dropped in Slap Shot. Shore was one of the greatest NHL players ever...and one of the meanest on the ice.
Let's learn more about the Edmonton Express!
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Shore was born in Fort Qu'Appelle and grew up in Cupar, SK. Shore played his first organized hockey with the Cupar Canucks and then the Melville Millionaires.
In 1926, he started his professional career with the Regina Capitals, before playing for the Edmonton Eskimos.
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In 1926-27, he debuted with the Boston Bruins, leading the league in penalty minutes (136 in 41 games) in his first season.
From his very first game, Shore became known for his toughness on the ice and his refusal to back down from anyone, including teammates.
Before the dynasties, Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur and Roy, the Montreal Canadiens were in trouble.
The team nearly moved to Cleveland, and then nearly folded. But one man helped save them...Conn Smythe.
Let's learn how Montreal almost lost the Canadiens!
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In the early-1930s, the Canadiens were riding high. From 1927-28 to 1931-32, the team finished first four times and won two Stanley Cups.
At the time, the team was stacked with Hall of Famers such as Howie Morenz, Aurèle Joliat, Sylvio Mantha and George Hainsworth.
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But even The Great Depression could bring down greatness.
It was going to bring an end to several franchises such as the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Maroons, and it nearly did the same to the Montreal Canadiens.
Despite the team doing well, crowd sizes were small.
A few days ago, I looked at how the international border through The Great Lakes was determined.
But what about the border west of Lake Superior?
It took decades to determine and wasn't just "drawn with a ruler by some guy".
Let's learn more!
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The 49th parallel border begins west of the Northwest Angle, a blip on the border that gives Minnesota part of the Lake of the Woods.
That 197 sq-km area came about due to treaties and a limited understanding of the geography west of Lake Superior.
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The 49th parallel border runs from the Strait of Georgia in the west to the Lake of the Woods.
It extends for 2,030 kilometres.
Having this as a border was first proposed before the United States even existed, back in 1714 by the Hudson's Bay Company.
From 1973 to 2022, Canada and Denmark were at war.
Over the course of the war, several soldiers on both sides were wounded....by hangovers. And it was all fought over a tiny island the size of a city block.
Let's learn about The Whisky War!
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Hans Island is a tiny island, 1.3 square kilometres in size, located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland.
It has no trees, no grass and is not inhabited.
The island is in the territory of the Inuit, who have visited it periodically over the centuries.
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The first-known Europeans reached the island in 1853 when a Danish expedition arrived. The island was named for an Inuk man on the expedition Hans Hendrik. He saved several men on the expedition when they journeyed too far from the ship on the ice.
The Great Lakes hold 23 quadrillion litres of water and 20% of the world's fresh surface water supply.
But how did Canada and the USA determine the border between the Great Lakes and also agree on the use of the lakes?
Let's learn about the treaties!
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When the Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American Revolutionary War, the treaty set out the boundary between the USA and British North America.
That border went through the Great Lakes but it was not officially surveyed.
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The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1818 limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes. This treaty was significant as it laid the groundwork for a demilitarized border between the USA and Canada and the longest demilitarized border in the world (8,891 km).
On this day in 1919, Bob Homme was born.
While he was born in the United States, he adopted Canada as his home. To generations of Canadians, he was The Friendly Giant.
Let's look up...waaaaay up...and learn about his life!
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Bob Homme was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin where his parents were teachers at the high school.
After he graduated from school, he attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in economics.
He joined the Air National Guard in 1939.
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When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, his unit was activated. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant and was assigned to study psychology at Cornell. He ended his time in the Second World War classifying and discharging servicemen who were returning home.